German Beef Rouladen

I usually pound my choice of steak then cut into 1 inch by 4 inch strips, salt and pepper and a bit of garlic powder, spread yellow mustard, a strip of bacon on each, I use whichever onion I have available at the time but I don’t dice it I use thin slices , then the pickle ( I like to use a good zesty garlic pickle spear), roll them up and tooth pick them. Brown in oil , then I add a 12 ounce beer and follow up with beef broth to cover the rouladen rolls. Simmer till tender. Once tender I remove the rolls and make a gravy using the broth left over. Then I make latkes ( potato cakes made from grated potatoes, eggs, and flour. Spoon gravy over the potato cakes and rouladen. Delicious !! My mother’s family were German also. PS…. I have used sour cream in my gravy… it depends if I have it or not.

Recipe is good, added diced jalapeno for a little kick like oma, quality Dijon mustard and no pickle. Served on Spätzle with a side salad.

So I finally made this after having saved the recipe a long time ago. The only changes I made were to use real onion, and to add the pickle as recommended. After tasting it, I don’t know how you could omit the pickle! It made the dish. The cut of meat was very tough even after pounding and simmering, so I might try it again with a more tender cut.

Raised by a German Grandmother and there was Always a pickle (kosher dill) and sour cream. Good Recipe. Thanks

DebbyO: This dish has a couple of regional versions that can be quite different (for example, the version produced nearer to Berlin tend to add cabbage, and the areas around Leipzig and the Czech border tend to use pork instead of the beef used here). This version is from the western side of Germany, probably from one of the areas near the French border. I agree with Pilar that the type of onion does make a difference: yellow onion is less common in Germany and has a milder flavor; German cooks tend to use red onions more, and red onion does produce a sharper taste that complements the pickle. German pickles are very sour, so the additional flavor profile adds another dimension to the dish, but if you don’t like them, you do you. A German cook would probably substitute some quark (a sour creamy cheese) for the sour cream listed here, but that’s up to the cook. German spicy mustard (sanft) also tends to have a more robust formula than dijon, which will also change the flavor quite substantially (I like it, but I’m accustomed to it, so YdY) — you just need to make sure it gets completely combined. Others have mentioned using all beef broth instead of water; I think that improves the dish a lot. That said, this variation is quite acceptable. Thanks for sharing it.

My grandmother always added a spear of dill pickle and and a stick of carrot to the rolls. No sour cream! Always loved it!

Similar to what my Dad used to make, only he used ground sausage instead of bacon.

This was a nice change up at Christmas dinner. I used a flank steak, it came out a little chewy but tasty, and I would try it again with a different cut of meat that could be flattened more. The sour cream made a good gravy sauce. Dont be inteimated by the mustard, the flavor is blended nicely after being cooked down.

Gravy tastes good but I’ve never heard of rouladen without a pickle .. that’s what makes it! Very weird and definitely not how a true German would cook it. But add in a pickle and Dijon and the recipe is great!

Love it

This is exactly the way my Busia made it, so good

This was delicious. I only gave it four stars as I took the advice of others and lightly cooked the bacon and the onions in the bacon grease after. I have heard that the traditional recipe has a dill pickle in it. As I didn’t have any, I wasn’t able to add that. However, the gravy was so flavourful and we sopped up the rest with bread. It a bit salty because of the bacon, I will not add any more salt next time.

I have made this many times with and without the pickles. I love this in the fall and winter. The thing I have changed lately is, I wrap the bacon around the rouladen with small pieces inside. I found the bacon wasn’t cooking properly. I cook mine in the oven and for extra zing I add more pickle juice to the sauce. No matter which way you make it, this is a delicious recipe.

I added shreded carrot. Broiled in oven instead of frying.

What a great recipe! I made half of this with and half without pickle. My wife loved both versions and I found the recipe to be delicious. Will use beef that is more thinly sliced (limited availability of the island) to get it within the specifications. Fun and easy to make, hearty, filling and flavorful. Thank you for sharing this one!

This was good. I did add a pickle to each one, but otherwise did everything as written.

Not a fan of the paprika and dijon mustard in this dish. I grew up without them in it, but thought I’d try this recipe out. Going back to my Mom’s awesome recipe.

did a few changes -used a good apple smoked bacon and used johnnys seasonings (Garlic and also their seasoned salt and made sauce with Johnny;s french dip Au Jus – came out wonderful

1.27.19 I didn’t have any sour cream on hand for the gravy, so I omitted it. Recipe doesn’t call for much anyway, so I didn’t ’t think it would be a game changer. Since I was looking for a rich beef gravy, I used all beef stock, no water. I had a few mushrooms in the fridge, so I sautéed them, and added after the gravy had thickened. I checked the rolls after 30 minutes, and they were not nearly tender enough (this is round steak, after all), so I ended up cooking for 1-1/4 hours at which time they were good-to-go. I added a little browning sauce (Kitchen Bouquet®) to get a richer, darker gravy for better eye appeal. That dijon mustard gave the beef rolls just a bit of tang, and the gravy was rich and robust, with just a hint of bacon. Served today with Red Cabbage (recipe on this site), sautéed fresh egg noodles, and freshly-cooked apples. My husband’s family has German roots, he is accustomed to German cuisine, and he gave this a thumbs up!

I have never commented before, but I’ve used this app for years. I’m going to try making this for a cook your culture party. My question is how would you add dill pickle? With relish, or a slice? I’m going to prepare it both ways! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Never having eaten this before, I invited friends over that has had it. This recipe was so easy to follow, and they said the taste was spot on. I LOVED it!